Developing Writing Skills Through Weblogs

Abstract

Many students struggle with writing at one time or another and find academic writing “daunting” (Carlse, 2019, p. 183). One strategy I used previously while lecturing in the media in two universities was to implement blogging into relevant writing-related modules. Lasica (2003) argues that weblogs (blog is short for weblog) provide an innovative way for people to express opinions and promote two-way communication. Many students complain that they have writer’s block and cannot complete a particular writing assignment as they face a mammoth task getting started. Freewriting or looping (Edwards, 2021) are useful ways of getting the writing started and when the topic is of interest to the writer, as in the form of a blog, it is more likely that the writing will continue. Blogging is very different to academic writing and adopts a more relaxed style. Nevertheless, there are similarities across both forms of writing: the discipline, planning and development of ideas is consistent. A lot of students are initially not overly enthusiastic about academic writing and referencing; however blogging can potentially make the writing more enjoyable.